Scientists Use Cell Phone Records to Predict Spread of Malaria

Employing a method for epidemiology research from Europe, scientists at the University of Florida have used cell phones records to track the how malaria might spread in Zanzibar. Calls made by Zanzibar residents while travelling in Tanzania were recorded, showing a small group occasionally visits a region with a high rate of malarial infection. While individuals don’t infect one another with the disease – it is communicated by mosquitoes – an individual travelling to an infected area, being bitten, and then travelling back to Zanzibar can spread the disease if he is bitten by a mosquito on return. Hence, if Zanzibar wishes to eliminate malaria fully, it needs to address the small population that regularly travels to infected areas. In an interconnected world where travel can introduce or exacerbate diseases, understanding and solving such issues may rely not only on cross-border cooperation, but also on other means of connectivity – in this case, cell phones. – YaleGlobal